Ericsson Sweden in BGF Final: the backstage story

On the photo (from left to right): Monica Jansson (Project Office Manager), Stefan Engström (Strategic Product Manager), Östen Johansson (Senior Project Manager), Mikael Wahlén (Career Model Project Manager) and Team Leader: Anette Jansson (Project Office Manager).

Ericsson is always committed to do good in business. This beautiful competition is no difference! The Team Key has found this competition very challenging and rewarding. We are very committed to go to Cannes, not being satisfied with 2nd or 3rd place. The first two rounds were very tough with fierce competition but we prevailed. We have overcome temporary setbacks, and with a lot of analysis work we managed to find a strategy that proved to be successful. We are in the finals; having beaten over 310 other teams. That is really a confidence booster.

The team consists of people from the Ericsson R&D and Product Management organisations. The team spirit is excellent with a lot of laughs and creative discussions. The basic round was extremely tough with our final colleagues SKFonic as one competitor. We meet again in the Final!!!! We are very happy to play against such noble and respected companies as Nokia, Schenker, Nordea, SKF and Accenture. We will certainly do our best to earn the top position. The game as such is very rewarding in terms of knowledge and team management, thus we have learned a lot. It was very exciting in the semi final round to wait for each round result, the nails got short and the heartbeat was picking up as the clock was ticking. This type of game is not only good for personal development but also a perfect break in the daily work routines. Well done Business Game Factory!

A final remark to our Final competitors:
The force might be with you and the wind might be blowing from behind. But, Ericsson with Team Key will fight to the bitter end with the goal to win the prestigious trophy and the total universal glory of being on top in BGF 2008.

May the best team win!

Best Regards
Team Key

Anette Jansson, Manager Project Office RBS Node, Business Unit Networks, Ericsson Sweden

Nokia Hungary in BGF Final: Looks like we made it :-)

"... the smell of the leather always excited my imagination
And I picture myself in this different situation
I'm a company director … lalalalaaaa"

We felt somewhat similar to what Sting sings in this brilliant song. Sitting behind closed doors, calculating, coffee after coffee, increasing pressure and feeling really important. For 24 hours during the semi-final we forgot about our everyday problems and most important decisions in our life seemed to be investing in the logistic and human resource processes of our Asian Magnetic Resonance Imaging business, or allocating money to R&D and so having a long-term effect on our lives. :-)

Besides finding the numbers for each cell in Excel, we continuously kept guessing who the other teams in the "BGF Universe" are, and what kind of thoughts they might have. Overall, this was really great fun. The 30 minutes between two rounds [waiting for results] seemed to be endless as we got closer to the last round. After receiving the reports simultaneously every member of our team jumped from His/Her seat and rushed to the "Createam Headquarters" with the new report in the hand, already having some comments about our expectations vs. actuals. Overall, the hardest part was anticipating what the reactions of other teams are going to be for the situations we were put in, and so basing our decisions on something without hard evidence. However, we seem to have had the right crystal ball, as we came first in the semi final. :-)

We are looking forward to the Final and really recommend to everyone who has a chance to go and find out what BGF Tournament is about!

May the force be with us in November!

- Createam

Greig Williams, Managing Director, Nokia South East Europe

Accenture Spain in the BGF Final: DTN's mission is TO WIN!

Some months ago… In 2008, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court called BGF for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Accenture Madrid office. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as consultants of fortune (winning game after game). If you have a (business) problem, no one else can help (increasing your profits), and you can find them, maybe you can hire... The DTN-Team.

Their leader is Col. John "Hannibal" Smith (Starring David Radío Gallego and co-starring Antonio Rodriguez-Vilariño Poza who is the specialist for the dangerous scenes), whose plans tend to be unorthodox but effective. Lt. Templeton "Faceman" Peck (Diego Ramirez Adrados) is a smooth-talking con-man who serves as the team's appropriator of vehicles and other useful items. The team's pilot is Capt. H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock, (Sergio García Castilla), who has been declared insane and resides in a mental institution. Finally, there is the team's strong man and mechanic, Sgt. Bosco B.A. ("Bad Attitude") Baracus (Francisco Fernandez Parra).

Apart from the brave men mentioned above the team was led by two guest stars: Artemio Luna and Alfonso Peña who will be coming with our friends in the craziest adventures to achieve one target in their next mission… WIN THE BUSINESS GAME!!!

Maria José Sobrinos, Human Resources Director, Accenture Spain

BGF and Northeastern University success story in “Business Education"

Capstone Simulation At Northeastern

The Northeastern University College of Business Administration in Boston, Massachusetts, has chosen a new Web-based simulation for its undergraduate capstone course. Designed by Business Game Factory, a Web-based business tournament design company in Helsinki, Finland, the simulation is run in the last three weeks of the semester-long course "Strategy in Action". More than 200 seniors take part in the simulation. Students are divided into five-person teams, each managing a global mobile cell phone manufacturing company and network service. Their goal is to win the game by conceiving and implementing the best working strategies, winning market share, and maximizing long-term shareholder value. The simulation is held in four rounds, each equaling one year of business operation. For each round, teams submit dozens of online spreadsheets that outline their financial and operational decisions regarding product line, manufacturing options, pricing and marketing strategies, competitor analysis and benchmarking, and investment in new services such as music or games. Those "year-end" results are analyzed and returned to them within 36 hours. The experience demonstrates the cross-functional links inherent in business enterprises, says Bert Spector, professor of international business and strategy. "The emphasis is not on the technology," he adds. "The emphasis is on the process of information sharing and decision making that occurred within the groups."

BizEd September/October 2008 (pp. 67-68)

The LOGICART team (representing DB Schenker in Poland) qualified to the BGF World Final !!!

The LOGICART team consists of 5 people: Piotrek Bąbel (Sales Branch Manager), Mariusz Kozłowski (Project Development Manager), Darek Subda (Controlling Manager / Team leader), Rafał Tarasewicz (Project Manager) and Arek Wojtas (Key Account Manager).

The day of BGF Semi finals was really exciting. After the first round we were on the fifth position and we knew that it would be extremely difficult to win this game. Obviously we like such challenges! Then, it was only better: second place after 2 round and finally we were the first after next rounds. I think time pressure really helped us and forced us to focus only on the most important factors impacting our results, but it wasn’t easy as our competitors also did play really well.

After all, we are definitely satisfied and look forward to the Final.

Agnieszka Józwik, HR, Schenker Poland

SKF Austria goes BGF World Finals 2008!

Coming from Steyr, a small town in the middle of Austria, SKF rolling bearings as well as SKF Business Game Factory players conquer the world.The motivated finalists are team leader Erwin Uebleis (controlling), Simon Blasl (business development), Joerg Schlager (supply chain) and Klaus Zeppezauer (human resources) - in the picture from left to right. Veronika Pfeffer, participating in the first round, stepped out due to her pregnancy. Veronika, in this way we wish you all the best for your personal challenges ahead!

Over the last five years, SKF - a Swedish company and world leader in rolling bearings and relevant products - has sent over 30 teams from 17 nations to participate in the BGF World Tournament. "Out of those, three teams have made it to the semi-finals, and we are the first team to enter the World Finals", says team leader Erwin Uebleis without hiding his pride.

Being among the top six of over 320 playing teams of this year´s Global Tournament is certainly something special. "The first three will make it to the BGF awards ceremony in Cannes. However, we won´t play for the third place - we will go for victory", says business developer Simon Blasl, knowing his optimism was always reasonable so far.

Not everyone was so happy from the very beginning - besides BGF, there was a lot of "real" work to be done. However, what SKF does - we do properly, and with the success in the first round, the fire got started. "Now we see the Business Game Factory as an excellent way of learning in a challenging, competitive environment and working as a team close to the reality of company management - including the time pressure" says Six Sigma Black Belt Joerg Schlager.

"The game became more and more realistic. In the semi-final, personnel was increasingly important, as it is in reality. In the final round, we will probably have to think about proper training of our virtual employees - for example by Business Game Factory", says Klaus Zeppezauer, representing the HR part.

The Team of SKF Austria looks forward to the upcoming challenge of the World Finals - take the chance now or never, following the SKF vision "To equip the world with SKF knowledge".

Elisabeth Krennhuber, Personnel and Organizational Development, SKF Österreich AG

BGF World Semi-Finals!

In September 2008, the Semi-Finals of BGF Global Open Tournament were held. Representing 17 countries, 38 best teams from the entire tournament year were competing against each other. The time for decision-making was short, adding more spice to the tournament excitement.

We are proud to announce that 6 of the semi-finalist teams qualified and are on their way to the BGF World Final. It will take place this November. The best three teams will be invited to our prestigious BGF Awards Ceremony, held in Cannes on the French Riviera.

Please welcome the following teams to the BGF World Final:

• Nordea Bank Finland - Latvia branch: Team NORDTEL
• Schenker - Poland: Team LOGICART
• SKF - Austria: Team SKFonic
• Accenture - Spain: Team DTN
• Ericsson Business Unit Networks - Sweden: Team KEY
• Nokia – Hungary: Team CREATEAM

Congratulations to all the teams who were participating in the BGF Business Game Tournament!

And all the best to the Finalists! May the best team win!!

Taavi Thiel
CEO, Business Game Factory